The present invention relates to a polyhedron inspection feeder and a polyhedron inspection apparatus, and in particular, to a polyhedron inspection feeder and a polyhedron inspection apparatus, which are suitable for inspecting a surface accuracy of inspection object such as chips of electronic components.
Conventionally, in the case of inspecting finish surface accuracy of electronic components such as chips, each surface of these chips has been inspected by a worker using a loupe or the like. However, in the above-mentioned inspection, the worker takes these chips by his hand one by one, and then, visibly inspects them; for this reason, there are many cases where defects such as micro scratch and deformation have been overlooked. As a result, this is a factor of mixing defectives in products. Further, the worker is fatigued with the inspection; for this reason, he has a heavy workload. In addition, a problem arises such that great unevenness is caused in inspection accuracy depending upon worker""s skill.
In view of the above problem, for example, the following apparatus has been proposed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 52-83184. The apparatus rotates an inspection object at a predetermined angle in a process for moving the inspection object while automatically inspecting it. The apparatus includes first and second conveyers, and is constructed in a manner of reversing the moving inspection object placed on the first conveyer, and transferring it onto the second conveyer, and further, inspecting a surface exposed on the upper side of the inspection object on each conveyer by a camera, and thereby, inspecting both sides of the inspection object.
However, the above apparatus requires a mechanism for reversing the inspection object between the first and second conveyers; for this reason, a problem arises such that the structure becomes complicate. Further, in order to reverse the inspection object, the first and second conveyers can not be linearly arranged; for this reason, a predetermined space is required in a vertical direction as conveyer arrangement space, whereby a problem arises such that the apparatus is made into a large size.
The present invention has been proposed in view of the problems. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a polyhedron inspection feeder and a polyhedron inspection apparatus, which can automatically and effectively inspect a surface of chip-like inspection object with high accuracy, and can miniaturize the device structure.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a polyhedron inspection feeder including a passage forming member for moving an inspection object to a predetermined direction, characterized in that
the passage forming member is formed into a shape of groove, and is provided with a rotating feed section, which includes a groove having right and left inclined angle changing along the moving direction of the inspection object so that the inspection object is rotated by a predetermined angle. With this arrangement, when the inspection object is moved on the passage forming member in a state of being placed in the groove, the inspection object is moved so as to rotate along a spiral locus. By doing so, it is possible to move the inspection object in a state that the inspection surface hidden in the groove at the initial movement is exposed. Therefore, it is possible to automatically, accurately and effectively inspect defects such as scratch and deformation on the surface of the inspection object by the predetermined inspection means without carrying out visible inspection. Further, the inspection object is moved while being rotated by the rotating feed section; therefore, it is possible to linearly provided the passage forming member, and thus, to achieve device miniaturization.
More specifically, in order to achieve the object, the present invention provides a polyhedron inspection feeder including a passage forming member for moving a polyhedral inspection object to a predetermined direction, characterized in that
the passage forming member is formed into a shape of groove, and has an arrangement of V-letter type, U-letter type and V-letter type sectional groove shape, and further, is provided with a rotating feed section, which includes a groove having right and left inclined angle changing along the moving direction of the inspection object so that it is rotated by a predetermined angle.
Further, in order to achieve the object, the present invention provides a polyhedron inspection feeder including a passage forming member for moving a polyhedral inspection object to a predetermined direction, characterized in that
the passage forming member is formed into a shape of groove, and has an arrangement of U-letter type, V-letter type and U-letter type sectional groove shape, and further, is provided with a rotating feed section, which includes a groove having right and left inclined angle changing along the moving direction of the inspection object so that the inspection object is rotated by a predetermined angle.
Moreover, according to the present invention, the upstream or downstream side of the rotating feed section having the arrangement of V-letter type, U-letter type and V-letter type sectional groove shape, maybe combined with the rotating feed section having the arrangement of U-letter type, V-letter type and U-letter type sectional groove shape. By doing so, the rotational angle of the inspection object can be twice by using the single rotating feed section.
Two rotating feed sections having the arrangement of V-letter type, U-letter type and V-letter type sectional groove shape may be continuously combined with each other, whereby the rotational angle of the inspection object can be twice, likewise.
In addition, two rotating feed sections having the arrangement of U-letter type, V-letter type and U-letter type sectional groove shape are continuously combined with each other. In this case, it is possible to obtain the same effect as the case where two rotating feed sections having the arrangement of V-letter type, U-letter type and V-letter type sectional groove shape are continuously combined with each other.
Further, the present invention provides a polyhedron inspection apparatus comprising:
a passage forming member for moving a polyhedral inspection object to a predetermined direction;
inspection means arranged at a near position along the passage forming member, and for inspecting each surface of the inspection object; and
supply means arranged on an upstream side of the passage forming member, and for supplying the inspection object to the passage forming member,
characterized in that the passage forming member is formed into a shape of groove, and is provided with a rotating feed section, which includes a groove having right and left inclined angle changing along the moving direction of the inspection object so that the inspection object is rotated by a predetermined angle, and further, the upstream side of the rotating feed section is provided with an estrangement feed section for the inspection object. With the configuration, it is possible to automatically inspect each surface of the polyhedral inspection object, and besides, even if the inspection object is continuously supplied from the supply means in a state of closely contacting with each other, the estrangement feed section for the inspection object forms a predetermined interval between the inspection objects. Therefore, it is possible to securely specify the inspection object one by one, and to carry out the inspection by the inspection means; as a result, an inspection mistake can be prevented.
Preferably, the polyhedron inspection apparatus further includes retrieve means, which distinguishes the inspection object determined as non-defective or defective into non-defective product and defective product and thereafter, retrieves it. The retrieve means is preferably composed of a suction unit having a suction port for the inspection object, and a discharge unit for blowing a gas to the inspection object in the groove so that a pressing force is given to the inspection object. With the configuration, it is possible to securely extrude the inspection object from the groove, and to securely retrieve the non-defective product and the defective product by the suction force of the suction unit.
Further, in the present invention, the passage forming member is composed of a plurality of members divided along a moving direction of the inspection object, and in the downstream side of each passage forming member, a vibration frequency is set higher than the upstream side thereof, and further, the inspection object is movable in a state of estranged from each other using a difference between the vibration frequencies. With the configuration, even if the chip is supplied in a state of closely contacting with each other, it is possible to securely move the chip in a state that the chip is estranged from each other, and thus, to securely inspect individual chips by the inspection means.
In this specification, the terms xe2x80x9cV-letterxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cU-letterxe2x80x9d used therein are not limited to a groove having symmetrical shape, and include the concept of non-symmetrical shape. Further, the term xe2x80x9cU-letterxe2x80x9d includes upwardly opened U-letter. In addition, the term xe2x80x9cright and left of groovexe2x80x9d is used based on the state when viewing the inspection object moving from the upstream side to the downstream side. Thus, in the following description, please note that right and left is shown in reverse in the following drawings. Preferably, the inspection object is a rectangular or cubic solid; however, other solids may be used as the inspection object.